Cats and Willow

My response to dVerse Poets Pub’s  Haibun Monday #15 All Things Quotidian

Toni has challenged us to think about everyday occurrences and write about them in a compact, haibun of one paragraph with one haiku at the end.  The haiku must be 5-7-5 or short-long-short and must be about nature, tying the everyday things all together.

Recently, Tosca, one of our two cats, was killed on the road that runs through our village. We were all devastated, my husband and I, and Luna, the daughter of Tosca. I picked them out, when Luna was still a tiny kitten, from the rescue cats at the Cats Protection League that is based in our village, a short walk from our home – or rather Tosca chose me. Over four years the girls became the most important part of our lives. First thing every morning, I would let one or both of them out or in, feed them and watch them chase each other around the garden or just sit outside the back door in a patch of sun, contemplating the world, while I stood at the window drinking a cup of tea. They loved to climb the tall curly willow trees in the garden in a game of hide and seek among the leaves and branches, which caused me to study those trees more carefully.

curly willow tree

shadow haunt of feline fun

tangles leaves and love

© Kim M. Russell, 2016

28 thoughts on “Cats and Willow”

  1. so sad – the straight forward narrative makes the impact more heartfelt – very sorry.
    I like the way you tied willow tree with the way those we love entangle themselves within us. No wonder we can never let go

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  2. To have a precious being like that being taken away is heartbreaking… I recall it from when we had cats, and it happened to some of them… I have always refrained for getting either cat or dog, because I know there comes a parting… yes i am a coward I know. Wonderful haibun.

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  7. I remember how years ago a tiny bit of orange fluff chose me and the grief I felt at his passing. You forthright narrative do clearly shows how life moves on at their passing but also how you will always be reminded of them when you look at things they touched. Thank for the pics of these precious girls. I am so very sorry.

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  13. oh how heartbreaking it must have been……Tosca and Luna are so real here. Members of the family, obviously. Wouldn’t it truly be amazing if we could see the world through their eyes, even for a moment? I like how you’ve shifted your gaze here — to try to do that with the willow trees.

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